Fasting or Dieting?

“Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said. [Daniel 1.12]

I've heard it said that this is a 'Daniel fast' but, I believe the careful examiner of God's Word will find that fasting is about going without food - not being selective with food. To "fast" means to do without and to be selective is to "diet."

Now, I am not saying that a good diet is not a good thing! But, it is not a fast according to what I understand from the Bible.

Here's the deal: I could 'fast' chocolate for a week and still feed my body with the best, most healthy food. The point of fasting is deny oneself. There is simply no way for the body to feel that denial when the stomach does not feel hunger pangs. Again, that is a diet.

I will go further still to say the accounts of fasting that come to my mind do not only involve complete abstinence from food, but from drink as well. In other words, no water either.

I am open to challenge here, but as I think through the Bible on the topic of fasting, it occurs to me that I know of no instance where a fast was anything but complete abstinence from food or drink of any kind (if it was actually defined as in Esther 4.16).

I believe the 'Daniel fast' is a great way to lose weight. But, please, let's not call it a fast, It is a diet - it's the Daniel diet. Fasting always serves a spiritual purpose - it is never mentioned in the Bible, that I know of, as a way to lose weight or eat healthier. 

Let's call it and practice it for what it is.

Father, help me to 'get it' regarding fasting. I cannot help but believe when Jesus told His disciples that a particular demon could not be dealt with except by prayer and fasting, that that meant doing without food - not dieting. If there is actual scripture that indicates otherwise, please show it to me.